Cargill Workers Vote to End Dispute That Idled U.S. Beef Plant

Cargill employees voted to end a labor dispute that halted cattle slaughtering at a beef plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, since April and left about 1,700 workers without pay, the company and workers’ union said on Monday.

The U.S. beef industry is in a period of upheaval as prices have soared to record highs for consumers this year while the nation’s cattle herd shrank to its smallest size in 75 years.

Meatpackers are reporting losses in their beef businesses and closing plants because soaring cattle costs have outpaced gains from higher meat prices.

In Fort Morgan, workers will return to the plant around Aug. 24 and slaughtering is expected to restart the week of Sept. 7, Cargill said.

The company stopped paying plant workers in May after suspending cattle slaughtering at the facility a month earlier in a dispute over pay.